Photo Essay: Minidoka Visitor Center Grand Opening
The new Minidoka NHS visitor center, an adaptive reuse of a historic warehouse and automotive repair shop from the Minidoka incarceration camp. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
This past Saturday on February 22, 2020, Friends of Minidoka joined our National Park Service partners to host the long awaited grand opening of the Minidoka National Historic Site visitor center. Remarks were made by Chief of Interpretation and Education Hanako Wakatsuki, Superintendent Wade Vagias, Idaho Governor Brad Little, and Friends of Minidoka Executive Director Mia Russell. Wakatsuki, Russell, and the Jerome Chamber of Commerce joined Governor Little and Minidoka survivors Fujiko Tamura Gardner, Karen Hirai Olen, and Mary Abo in cutting the ribbon to the visitor center.
The visitor center and Issei: A Legacy of Courage exhibit had also been dedicated during a soft opening for the participants of the Minidoka Pilgrimage in July 2019.
The visitor center rolled into spring hours of 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM on Fridays-Sundays. The historic site and 1.6 mile walking trail is open everyday sunrise to sunset. Contact the National Park Service for updated hours at www.nps.gov/miin
Please enjoy this photo essay of the grand opening, and thanks to Richard Alan Hannon of Evocative Sounds and Visuals for capturing the day.
NPS Rangers raise the flag in preparation for the grand opening. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Governor Brad Little visits with Robert Hirai, Honorary Consul General of Japan in Idaho , and Wendy Hirai before the program. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Hanako Wakatsuki, Chief of Interpretation and Education, makes remarks at the grand opening. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Superintendent Wade Vagias makes remarks at the grand opening. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Ribbon cutting of the new visitor center. Left to right: Mia Russell, Governor Little, Fujiko Tamura Gardner, Karen Hirai Olen, Mary Abo, Hanako Wakatsuki. Jerome Area Chamber of Commerce members stand behind. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
The visitor center interior includes NPS exhibits about the Japanese American incarceration experience, the Issei: A Legacy of Courage exhibition by the Friends of Minidoka, artifacts on display, a theater showing the Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp documentary, and a bookstore. NPS photos/Richard Alan Hannon
Joe Abo looks at the names of over 4,000 Issei incarcerated at Minidoka, part of the Issei Memorial Exhibit. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Minidoka survivor Fujiko Tamura Gardner, and her granddaughter Kelsea, an NPS ranger, take in the new visitor center. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Idaho State Historic Preservation Officer Administrator Tricia Canaday reads an exhibit. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Governor Little and Karen Hirai Olen, who was born at Minidoka, converse in the visitor center. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon
Following the ribbon cutting, guests were invited to take a site tour of Minidoka with park rangers and survivors. NPS Photo/Richard Alan Hannon